Fabricated News Claims Poroshenko Engineering 3rd Round of Voting

UKRAINE – In the center (from left to right): NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Turchinov, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Head of Donetsk Regional State Administration Oleksandr Kuts. The city of Avdiyivka, near the occupied Donetsk, May 6, 2019

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Fabricated News Claims Poroshenko Engineering 3rd Round of Voting

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Vladimir Kovalenko

Elise Journal Author

“Poroshenko is preparing for a 3rd round of presidential elections in Ukraine.”

On Wednesday, May 15, a story appeared on a Ukrainian website, Elise Journal, claiming that outgoing Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is preparing for a third round of presidential elections.

The report claimed that Ukraine’s parliament would seek to allow Poroshenko to stay in power by not setting an inauguration date for president-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy, allowing Poroshenko to then announce a third round of voting.

A screenshot from the Elise Journal report published on May 15, 2019, claiming that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is planning to engineer a third round of voting to remain in power.

The report outlines a theoretical legal scheme under the law “On the Election of the President of Ukraine,” through which it would be possible for Poroshenko to maintain power.

“Such a plan is being worked out in the (Ukrainian) Presidential Administration, and if it goes forward, civil war could break out,” wrote the author, who identifies himself as Vladimir Kovalenko.

The article quickly began trending on the Russian-language internet sphere. The Mediametrics.ru analysis showed that the article was trending in the Russian social networks for the 24 hours following its publication, holding a sixth position in the intersection of “countries” “social networks” “regions” and “24 hours." This was after the inauguration date had been announced:

A screenshot from Media Metrics taken on May 16, 2019 showing the popularity of a report on Elise Journal claiming Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is planning to engineer a third round of voting to remain in power.

​The article was later shared on a website called bbcccnn.org, which is followed by nearly 1.75 million people on Facebook. The article received a strong level of interaction on the popular social media platform.

The article’s claim, however, is false.

A screenshot from bbcccnn.org's Facebook page, which republished a story from Elise Journal on May 15, 2019, claiming that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is planning to engineer a third round of voting to stay in power.

Zelenskiy had previously sought a May inauguration, which could give him a mandate to dissolve parliament and call for a snap election.

At the time of publication, Elise Journal had not issued a retraction or an update or taken down the story.

Many, if not most, of the stories posted under the author section for Kavlenko are of an alarmist nature, accusing Poroshenko of multiple offenses, including theft, corruption and genocide.

• This is genocide. Over 5 years, 2.7 million pensioners have been destroyed in Ukraine. Shocking figures of Poroshenko's 5 years (PHOTOS)

• Journalist: “If our servicemen learn about this information, they will tear it to pieces” (PHOTO)

• It’s begun! Poroshenko and members of his group are revealed. Criminal cases are initiated. What's happening? (PHOTO)

• Poroshenko gave the order: "Destroy all the evidence of the Maidan" (VIDEO, PHOTO)

A screen capture from Elise Journal showing articles published by an author identifying himself as Vladimir Kovalenko.

Elise Journal, which says it is not a mass media organization, disavows responsibility for the content posted on its site.

Polygraph.info has discovered the Elise Journal appears to be masking its IP address. It ostensibly operates out of Gunzenhausen, Germany, but in fact is registered to a home on Nasypnaya Street on Uzhhorod, Ukraine.

Elise Journal has masked its IP address to make it appear as if it is operating out of Gunzenhausen, Germany, but in fact is registered to a home on Nasypnaya Street in Uzhhorod, Ukraine.